How to Drink Bourbon: 7 Honest Rules, and the Ones to Ignore Leave a comment
How to drink bourbon, short answer: pour an ounce and a half into a heavy rocks glass, taste it neat first, then add a few drops of water or one large cube and taste it again. That is the whole method. Everything else — the glass shape, the temperature, whether you are allowed to mix it — is detail, and most of it is argued about by people who are trying to sell you something. This guide covers how to drink bourbon neat, on the rocks and in the one cocktail worth learning, plus the seven rules that matter and the three you can ignore.
The short version
The glass this guide assumes
Personalized Whiskey Glasses — 11 oz rocks glass, engraved with a name or monogram
1. How to drink bourbon starts with the glass
A heavy-based rocks glass, 8 to 11 ounces, is the right answer for almost everyone. It takes a single large cube, it sits in the hand, and its wide mouth lets the alcohol vapour escape so the nose gets fruit and oak instead of burn. A tulip-shaped tasting glass (the Glencairn is the common one) concentrates the aroma and is better for comparing two bottles side by side; it is worse for a drink you are going to hold for an hour. What does not work is a thin-walled tumbler or a wine glass: the first warms the pour in your hand, the second collects the alcohol at the rim.
The rocks glass, with your name on it
Personalized Whiskey Glasses — Engraved Rocks Glass
- 11 oz heavy-based rocks glass: takes one large cube and keeps the pour cool in the hand
- Laser engraved with a name, monogram, date or logo — made in the USA
- Under $20, so a matched pair or a set for the bar stays affordable
Engraved to order · Made in the USA · Fast USA shipping
The shapes and sizes, including the double old fashioned and the Glencairn, are compared in our whiskey glasses guide.
2. Neat first, every bottle, once
Neat means poured straight, nothing added, at room temperature. Do it once with every new bottle, even the one you intend to drink on ice; knowing how to drink bourbon starts with knowing what it tastes like undisturbed, because it is the only way to know what the ice is doing. Pour an ounce and a half, let it sit for a minute so the alcohol that was disturbed by the pour settles, and take a small sip before you judge anything; the first sip of the night is mostly your mouth adjusting to the proof. The second sip is the bourbon.
3. How to drink bourbon with water, then ice
A few drops of room-temperature water into a neat pour is the oldest trick in whiskey and it works: the water breaks the surface tension, more aroma comes off the glass, and a high-proof bourbon stops burning and starts tasting of something. Add a few drops at a time, not a splash. Distillers do this at the tasting table for exactly this reason.
Ice does two things at once, chills and dilutes, and the second one gets out of hand fast. One large two-inch cube in a rocks glass melts slowly enough that the last sip still tastes like bourbon; a handful of small tray cubes turns a good pour into cold water in ten minutes. A silicone large-cube mould costs less than a bottle and is the single best upgrade to how you drink bourbon at home. Whiskey stones chill a pour by a couple of degrees and then stop; they are a gift that gets regifted, not a method.
4. Temperature
Room temperature, around 65 to 70 degrees, is where bourbon tastes like itself, and it is the part of how to drink bourbon most people get wrong by accident. Do not keep the bottle in the freezer; cold mutes the vanilla and caramel that are the point of the spirit and leaves the alcohol. Do not warm it either. If the room is hot, a large cube is the answer, not a chilled bottle. Store the bottle upright, out of sunlight, with the cap tight; an open bottle keeps for years, but a bottle that is a quarter full loses its edge within a few months as the air works on it, which is one honest argument for a decanter for the bottle you pour from most.
5. How to taste it, without the theatre
Nose it first with your mouth slightly open; that stops the alcohol vapour from going straight up your nose and lets you pick out what is underneath, which in bourbon is usually caramel, vanilla, some kind of fruit and the char from the barrel. Take a small sip and hold it for a few seconds, moving it across the tongue, then swallow and pay attention to the finish, meaning how long the flavour stays and whether it turns spicy, sweet or dry. You do not need to name six flavours; you need to notice whether you like it more or less than the last bottle. Write one line down if you are trying to remember, because after three pours nobody remembers.
6. Proof, and what the number means for the pour
Bourbon is bottled at 80 proof (40% alcohol) at the minimum and goes up from there; bottled-in-bond is exactly 100 proof, and barrel-proof or cask-strength bottles run 110 to 130. The number tells you how to drink it. An 80 to 90 proof bourbon is ready neat. A 100 proof bourbon usually wants a few drops of water. Anything over 110 is meant to be brought down to your taste with water, and drinking it neat is a choice, not a rule. By law a bourbon must be made in the United States from at least 51% corn and aged in new charred oak; the bourbon whiskey standard is federal, which is why a cheap straight bourbon is still a real one.
7. The one cocktail worth learning
The Old Fashioned: two ounces of bourbon, a sugar cube or a quarter ounce of rich simple syrup, two dashes of aromatic bitters, stirred with ice for twenty seconds, strained over one large cube in a rocks glass, with a strip of orange peel twisted over the top. It is the drink bourbon was made for, it takes ninety seconds, and it is what to make with the bottle that is too rough to drink neat. Our home bar essentials guide has the bitters, the jigger and the bar spoon it needs, and nothing it does not.
Three rules about how to drink bourbon that you can ignore
- “Never put ice in good bourbon.” One large cube in a 100-proof bourbon is how most of Kentucky drinks it. The rule against ice is really a rule against small ice.
- “Never mix it.” A $30 bottle in an Old Fashioned is the best use of a $30 bottle. Save the neat pour for the bottle that earns it.
- “You need the special glass.” A tasting glass helps when you are comparing bottles. For a drink after work, the rocks glass is correct and the tasting glass is fussy.
Buying for a bourbon drinker? Our gifts for bourbon lovers list ranks the glass, the decanter and the ice mould honestly; the decanter guide covers how long bourbon keeps once it is poured out of the bottle.
For the bottle you pour from most
Personalized Whiskey Decanter — 750 ml glass, engraved with a name or monogram
How to drink bourbon: FAQ
Should bourbon be drunk neat or on the rocks?
Taste every bottle neat once, then drink it however you like it; that is how to drink bourbon in one line. One large cube is fine; a tray of small ice is not, because it waters the pour down within minutes.
What glass do you drink bourbon from?
A heavy-based rocks glass of 8 to 11 ounces for everyday drinking. A tulip tasting glass only when comparing bottles.
Do you add water to bourbon?
A few drops at a time, especially above 100 proof. It opens the aroma and softens the burn without diluting the drink the way ice does.
Should bourbon be chilled?
No. Serve it at room temperature and chill the glass with one large cube if you want it cold. A frozen bottle mutes the flavour.
How much bourbon is one pour?
An ounce and a half neat, two ounces in a cocktail. The standard US serving of an 80-proof spirit is 1.5 oz.
Is it wrong to mix good bourbon?
No. An Old Fashioned made with a decent bourbon is the classic use of it. Keep the expensive bottle for neat pours and mix the everyday one.
Engraved bourbon glasses, made to order
Setting up somewhere to pour it? Our bar cart essentials guide covers the decanter, the glasses and the five tools worth the shelf space.
Keeping the bottle between pours? Our guide to how to store whiskey has the seven rules.
Looking for a gift? Our custom whiskey glasses are laser engraved with a name, monogram or logo.
Every rocks glass and decanter at Gozi360 is laser engraved to order — a name, a date, a monogram or a company logo. For a matched pair or a set, send us the names and we will price it.
